A Sinking Feeling
by Baileaves
Summary: a short story I wrote about Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction. May contain spoilers. When Ratchet and Clank try and take the key to the lombax secret things go little different than normal, and it's up to Clank to save his friend.


**Authors note: I don't own any characters in this piece. All characters are owned by Insomniac Games.**

Ratchet entered the room and found the strange object. The supposed lombax secret the pirates had been keeping.

"We found it!" He cried happily

"But what is it?" Clank thought aloud.

Suddenly they heard two voices happily singing a pirate song.

"My hearties sing chant-ies of girls in loose panties!" They sang.

"Quick, hide!" Ratchet said to Clank. They quickly dove behind some chests of the space pirates' treasure, and held their breath.

They finished their song as they entered the room, and laughed full heartedly. Suddenly one pirate by the name of Slag stopped dead in his tracks. He got a whiff of something peculiar.

"Arrrrr...what be that foul smell?" He wondered aloud.

"Aye...that oyster chilli be disagreein' with me somethin' fierce!" His first mate, Rusty Pete, explained.

"No... there be a yet fouler smell..." Slag went on "one I not been smellin' for nigh' 600 moons!"

"Oh...fresh trousers?" The mate quizzed again.

Ratchet pressed farther against the chest he and Clank were behind. He could hear the pirates getting closer to their hiding spot.

"Lombax" the pirate said.

Ratchet had to get out soon. He looked around for possible exits and spied an open window. He silently signalled to Clank of his plan. Clank took the lead and tiptoed toward the opening. Ratchet followed behind his friend on all fours. They crept closer and closer when just then-

"I got 'im cap'n!" Rusty Pete cried yanking Ratchet by the neck. He let out a cry of surprise as he was pulled into the air.

"Ah... so ye be the lombax trying to nab me treasure." Slag said taking Ratchet in his hook of a hand.

"It's the lombax secret and it doesn't belong to you, you bag of bolts!" Ratchet yelled

"Oh, think ye brave do ye? Well let's see how brave ye be in Davey Jones's locker!" He said snidely

The captain and his first mate took Ratchet squirming to their ship and sailed off. Clank stood sad and angry. He wanted to help Ratchet, but he could tell by the look he gave him before he was jerked away, he knew it was a bad idea. He would just get them both caught.

Clank climbed out the window they were about to free themselves through and ran to find help. He got out his communication device and called Talwyn, as he ran after the vessel.

Ratchet stood on the ship, his hands bound and his feet strapped to a large safe. Slag's men danced around him mocking him and laughing at him.

"Did ye honestly think ye'd be able to steal from captain Slag and get away with it?" He said pushing Ratchet closer to the edge of the ship. His foot slipped slightly but he regained his composure

"Could you repeat that, I didn't get it over the smell of your breathe." Ratchet said keeping his confidence.

"Ah... the lad thinks he has wit. Let's see how ye do swimming with the fishes!" The captain cried and shoved Ratchet over board. Ratchet held his breathe as he sank deeper and deeper into the cold dark waters.

"Um... did any of ye get the loot out of the safe before we tied the rat to it?" Rusty Pete inquired.

The men looked around at each other and Slag slapped his forehead.

Clank had finally caught up the boat just in time to see his friend go under the water. He was a bit of a distance away, but the horrible sight pushed his to go faster. Talwyn had finally caught up to him and ran next to him.

"Clank what happened?" She asked worried.

"It is Ratchet; the crew has thrown him over board." He explained. She nodded. Clank just hoped they'd make it in time.

Ratchet looked around himself. It was incredibly dark and he could barely make out the shapes of the plant and animal life around him. Clank had his O2 mask so there was very little time left before he would drown. He squinted through the water trying to find something to cut the ropes. He spied a sharp rock on the ocean floor and swam for it. With his limbs bound though he made little progress. He tried grabbing at equipment he had on him. None of them were able to even make a dent. Ratchet's lungs began to burn, but he tried to keep a clean head. He looked around more for something, anything to help him, and found nothing. His lungs pleaded for air, and suddenly he couldn't hold it anymore. He let go of his breath and took in nothing but water. This was how he was going to die.

Clank and Talwyn finally made it to where their companion had been dropped. They scanned the water but couldn't see through its inky darkness. Without second thoughts they dove into the water. Clank equipped his swimming apparatus and looked for Ratchet. He and Talwyn stayed close to each other so they could warn if they saw anything. Clank was beginning to feel hopeless when he saw a glimmer of golden fur. He swam closer and gasped. There in the water swayed his friend, unconscious. Talwyn swam over and Clank could see the fear in her eyes. She and Clank quickly cut the binds on his limbs and, swam him back to shore, and dragged his still body to the sand.

Talwyn began to perform CPR and pushed on Ratchet's chest. Clank held onto his friend as Talwyn pleaded under her breath. Suddenly he stirred. Then he began coughing and Talwyn eased him up into a sitting position. Ratchet violently coughed and threw up water as his friends supported him. When his coughing had subdued he looked to his team.

"Wh... what happened?" He asked coughing lightly.

"The pirates tried to drown you, Clank informed me and we came just in time."

"Maybe it is too dangerous to go after the Lombax secret." Clank said patting his friend gravely.

"No," Ratchet said "we've been through worse and the pirates guarding it well means that if Takyon were to get a hold of it the consequences would be dire. Speaking of which did any of you get the object?"

Clank opened his latch and pulled out the strange pyramid shaped device.

"You're a life saver pal!" Ratchet clapped Clank on the back "Now to figure out how it works."


End file.
